Posted on 04/27/2006 3:03:34 PM PDT by restornu
I appreciate your perspective.
I was just asking my husband, "If Mormonism is based on early American testimonies, where are all the American Indian Mormons?"
I'm usually tolerant of moral religious beliefs of people who don't wish to kill me (that is, non-Muslims), but as a gnostic leaning Buddhist, such matter-worship makes me nauseous.
You only expect to see polytheistic matter-worship in cultures that produce "cargo cults" and voodoo.
Polytheistic, EG: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=polytheistic or the belief in more than one god. Commonly polytheistic religions have gods for different purposes, the god of war, god of the harvest and fertility, that sort of thing.
Mormons believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost. These make up the God head a unit so in tune that they are one in might mind and purpose. The link includes the thirteen articles of faith, a list of beliefs written by Joseph Smith Jun.
Please if you have other questions, ask members of the church, not those who do not understand our beliefs because they are not members.
(You wouldn't go to Ford to find out about a Chevy would you?)
>> If Mormonism is based on early American testimonies, where are all the American Indian Mormons?"
There are tons of them in Colorado, and South Dakota.
>>They were all created as mere mortals who ascended to godhood. Joseph Smith said
>>matter was eternal.
>>I'm usually tolerant of moral religious beliefs of people who don't wish to kill me (that
>>is, non-Muslims), but as a gnostic leaning Buddhist, such matter-worship makes me
>>nauseous.
>>You only expect to see polytheistic matter-worship in cultures that produce "cargo
>>cults" and voodoo.
Polytheistic matter worship, you ought to write for Doctor Who. See what happens when those you try to teach a principle they dont understand?
God is eternal because he was there before us and will be there for the rest of our lives. Matter (Being created by God, before he created us), will also be there for the rest of our lives, and is also eternal.
We do not worship matter.
See the first law of Thermodynamics (http://www.chemistry.ohio-state.edu/~woodward/ch121/ch5_law.htm ) for the eternal nature of matter to us mere mortals
So is it the Mormon position that the horse died out?
Until recently they were called "Saints". Now they want to be called "Christians". The Missouri Mormons dropped the "Saints" label entirely. Unsuspecting folks would never know they are anything other than mainstream Christians as they are now "The Community of Christ".
"I wish to declare I have always and in all congregations when I have preached on the subject of the Deity,
it has been the plurality of Gods."
(Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet
Joseph Smith pg 369)
also the archaeologist who investigate things like this!
I'm a Calvinist.
MORE MISINFORMATION....
They are NOT related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!
So there are 3 in the Godhead that mean the family of God are Father His Son and the Holy Ghost that would be plural even in the Trinity!
You have a different idea of what "eternal" means than most people.
also the archaeologist who investigate things like this!
I'm completely ignorant on such things, so I'll ping the only American archaeologist that I know of here and ask him.
Coyoteman, sorry to bother you, but I need your disinterested expertise here for a bit. Can you verify restornu's statement that horses are native to the Americas and died out sometime after 100 AD? (Restornu, I don't know what year the last mention of horses corresponded to in the Book of Mormon, so the year I picked is a WAG. If I'm far off, will you correct me?)
Just refining the plurality of gods thing (we do not have a "God of storms" or the like)
I have a lot of different ideas, thats why I am an interesting person to talk to.
(Thanks for the compliment)
Who wants to think exactly like everyone else?
Tell me; Is it eternal punishment because it goes on forever, or because that is one of Gods names?
(I love these questions, you never get the same answer twice and usually you learn some thing you didnt before)
Remember, David was promised that God would not leave his soul in Hell, after he committed Uriahs murder so he could marry Bathsheba.
Are you male? If so, don't you get to become a god in the celestial kingdom?
Going from memory, there was a native horse species in the New World. It was different from our modern horses (same genus, different species, I think). It died out with the Pleistocene fauna. I am not sure when the last one was killed and cooked and eaten, but I believe remains have been found as recently as perhaps 10-12,000 years.
Hope this helps. I would have to hustle some books for a better answer. I have Martin's Twilight of the Mammoths here, so if you need more let me know.
I would like to know just what you conjure up your mind when you think these things you?
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